The 49ers expect tight end George Kittle to practice Wednesday and cornerback Charvarius Ward has returned to the team and will be evaluated in hopes of returning in Week 12 to face the Buffalo Bills.
Coach Kyle Shanahan is also holding out hope that edge rusher Nick Bosa can play after exiting in the third quarter of a 20-17 loss Sunday to the Seattle Seahawks.
Whether that will be enough for the 49ers to go from a 5-5 team to a potential playoff contender will play out over the rest of the season.
One thing Shanahan believes is that the answers won’t come from outside the the confines of 4949 Marie P. DeBartolo Drive.
“The only thing that matters is during those three and a half hours in a football game and the only thing you can do in those three and a half hours is focus on football and how to get better in practice and meetings,” Shanahan said Tuesday during a weekly conference call with local writers. “Anything outside of that, any talking about it, pointing to other people, trying to make up a narrative of it that doesn’t have to do with exactly what what happened on the football field will only make that stuff harder.”
Shanahan said the 49ers met and went over the last four possessions of the Seattle loss, two on offense and two on defense, to detail the mistakes which contributed to their third blown fourth-quarter lead to an NFC West opponent.
INJURY UPDATES
— One situation that bears watching when practice resumes — quarterback Brock Purdy emerged with “right shoulder soreness” and is day to day.
Shanahan said the injury came from a blow to the shoulder rather from throwing the ball.
— Shanahan sounded the most optimistic regarding Kittle.
“He should practice Wednesday,” Shanahan said. “I know it was close yesterday so he should be good to practice.”
He should practice on Wednesday I know iit was close yesterday so he should be good or practice on yesterday.
— In the aftermath of the loss, Bosa said he was concerned about the second oblique injury that ended his day against Buffalo.
“You should never really ask a guy right after a game or the next morning,” Shanahan said. “He was feeling like that a couple of weeks ago too, so we’ll see how it goes this week. There’s just as good of a chance for him not to play as play.”
— Ward attended his first game since the death of his daughter Amani Joy and has been working out over the weekend with the 49ers strength and conditioning coach Dustin Perry. He was at the 49ers team meeting Monday.
“We’ll see how this week goes with him,” Shanahan said.
— Wide receiver/return specialist Jacob Cowing is in the concussion protocol.
— Linebacker Dre Greenlaw (Achilles) will remain remain on the physically unable to perform list and will continue to do mock practices on his own.
“I hope we’ll get him practice next week,” Shanahan said.
— Rookie linebacker Tatum Bethune has an MCL sprain and will be out “awhile” according to Shanahan.
NOTABLE
— Staying on 17 has been a losing proposition. The 49ers have scored 17 points in five games over the last two seasons and have lost them all — 20-17 on Sunday, 23-17 to Minnesota earlier this season and last year’s three-game losing streak when they lost 19-17 to Cleveland, 22-17 to the Vikings and 31-17 to Cincinnati.
The last time the 49ers won a game with less than 20 points was 19-12 over Dallas in a divisional playoff game after the 2022 season. The last time it happened in the regular season was 13-0 over New Orleans in Week 12 of that season.
— Linebacker Fred Warner finished with three tackles against Seattle, the least amount of tackles he’s had since getting two in a 33-17 win over Miami in 2022. That’s a span of 35 games including the postseason.
SNAP JUDGEMENTS
71: Tight end Eric Saubert was forced into fulltime duty with George Kittle out and reporting to work with an illness, Saubert played 61 snaps on offense and 10 more on special teams. He was targeted only once and had a seven-yard reception.
60: Safeties Ji’Ayir Brown and Malik Mustapha and linebackers Warner and De’Vondre Campbell played every defensive snap.
59: Christian McCaffrey has condensed his offseason into two regular season games in Weeks 10 and 11 and made other running backs on the roster disappear. He’s played 91 percent of the snaps in two games and is averaging 3.7 yards per carry with 10 receptions for 95 yards and hasn’t scored a touchdown.
37: Defensive lineman Yetur Gross-Matos wound up getting more work than expected after Bosa was hurt. One of his two tackles was a sack.
26: Bosa missed only three snaps up until his injury after a light week of practice protecting a right oblique injury.
12: Tackle Jaylon Moore, pressed into duty as a blocking tight end, had his most snaps since getting 49 in the regular season finale last season in place of Trent Williams against the Rams.
2: Running back Jordan Mason was once upon a team among the NFL rushing leaders. He spelled McCaffrey for two plays in the first half, gaining eight yards to the 20 and then five yards for a first down. He didn’t play another snap on offense. No. 3 running back Isaac Guerendo also had two snaps.
